Chapter 315: Chapter 314: Feng Te’s Football Journey
However, today’s starting striker for Lisbon Athletics was Ibrahimovic, and he did not have the same habit of repeatedly launching physically costly attacks as Drogba, so Lisbon Athletics struggled to find an opening for a while.
The nineteenth minute.
Lisbon Athletics came under a wave of pressing from Moreirense.
In the past nineteen minutes, Moreirense had less than twenty percent possession, which was frankly embarrassing. Their players had to make a push for their pride.
But this push gave Deng Kai an opportunity.
Deng Kai received a back pass in the defensive midfield position, where Deschamps had drifted to the right side, acting as a temporary right wing-back.
Bang!
After receiving the ball, Deng Kai launched a counterattack with a long pass. He was all too familiar with the pressing rhythm of the Moreirense players. His pass, which seemed risky, was almost impossible to intercept by the Moreirense players.
In the middle, Ibrahimovic used his arms to keep the defending player behind him, his body clearly a level above Moreirense’s center-back.
If Kilop had been there, maybe he could have contained Ibrahimovic, but Moreirense currently didn’t have a high-caliber center-back anymore.
Bang!
Ibrahimovic headed the ball on.
Viana skimmed by the side, charging towards the large Moreirense penalty area with the ball.
The other center-back from Moreirense rushed over to cover.
Bang!
Viana seized the opportunity to slide a through ball into the empty penalty area.
Ronaldo had already shaken off the left-back marking him, cutting in without the ball into the penalty area, ready to shoot, and easily scored.
Deng Kai and Ronaldo looked at one of Moreirense’s good friends, the young goalkeeper Sergio Gomez, who had started to get quite a few appearances this year, with speechless expressions.
He made a valiant save attempt, but it all happened after the football had already gone in.
His reaction was slow.
His saving quality was far from that of a Primeira Liga starter.
After Moreirense created the miracle of promotion, some players shone brightly, like Deng Kai and Ronaldo.
Some players withstood the test of higher-level competition and were becoming players of the caliber of the top five leagues, like Kilop, Anderson, and even Alex from the team.
But there were also some players who floundered under the spotlight and failed to put up interesting performances.
Gomes was one of them.
He was too young. An opportunity coming before one is ready sometimes isn’t a good thing.
If he had received this chance three years later, perhaps he could have become a starting goalkeeper for a Primeira Liga team.
But now... he was accelerating his own steps back to the Liga Portugal 2.
However, having had such an experience, he would be quite sought after in the lower leagues. A bit older, with further improved abilities, he might have the chance to make it big later in his career, perhaps returning to the Primeira Liga or even moving to one of the top five leagues.
This is what was mentioned earlier: a player with a slower growth curve.
In the goalkeeper position, the curve is particularly slow.
Gomes at twenty-one years old, if placed in midfield or forward positions, is roughly equivalent to a fifteen or sixteen-year-old player. How could he be expected to achieve great results?
Ronaldo: ???
Deng Kai: ???
But Moreirense had improved compared to last year as well.
After conceding a goal, they did not collapse completely. Instead, their fighting spirit was ignited, and they began to compete actively for the ball against Lisbon Athletics.
Instead of contesting out of desperation as before.
In the twenty-fifth minute, Alex outpaced Terry on the wing, Terry wasn’t particularly slow, but at the end of the day, he was still a central defender.
Alex’s speed was barely top tier in the Portuguese league, if Terry wasn’t given a chance to make contact, he would be at a disadvantage.
Unfortunately, the other team members weren’t in position, and Alex’s cross came and went like Halley’s Comet, leaving no trace behind.
In the thirty-third minute.
This time Alex added some feints before suddenly accelerating, Terry, in his pursuit, pressed too hard with his feet and slipped and fell.
Alex’s maneuver to get past Terry elicited a gasp from Sporting Lisbon’s fans.
Bang!
Alex crossed again.
This time Anderson didn’t miss the opportunity, he got into a fierce jostling for position with Feng Te inside the penalty area.
Ultimately, Anderson, using his knowledge of Feng Te, outmatched him to score with a header!
"GOAL! Moreirense is playing fiercely! They are showing a really high level of performance!"
"This goal came from the connection between Alex and Anderson, both players are currently attracting a lot of attention. Benfica, Porto, as well as the Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund, Ligue 1’s Monaco, and Lyon all have scouts tracking them."
"Indeed, these are two outstanding players. Last season, when Moreirense won the Portuguese league, apart from the contributions of Deng Kai and Ronaldo, Anderson and Alex also played very important roles!"
"Feng Te needs some self-reflection, being dominated by his former adversary isn’t a good look. Especially since he is definitely in a better environment than Anderson."
Feng Te’s face was full of frustration!
He had to admit, playing football with these geniuses was really exhausting.
He had always been training extra with Deng Kai and Ronaldo; but not to even talk about comparing with the progress of Deng Kai and Ronaldo. Even if compared with Anderson, Alex, Kilop, and other teammates like Barzagli, Terry, and Pepe, Feng Te’s progress was indeed slow.
The youth training director of Sporting Lisbon even doubted for a time whether Feng Te was slacking off and not training earnestly.
The issue of slow progress was always troubling Feng Te.
But in the end, Maxa typified Feng Te’s situation.
Maxa: "Talent is ranked, and you are considered a talented player. But as you can feel yourself, your progress is slow. Compared to those geniuses, you’ll eventually be phased out."
"But when God closes a door, he always opens a window for you."
"Your friendship with Deng Kai will be key to securing your place in the team over the next few years. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
Feng Te got the message loud and clear.
And he has been firmly practicing the principle of playing football with Deng Kai as the central role model, holding himself to the high standards of four obediences and eight services.
He became Deng Kai’s number one supporter in the team.
No, the second.
The first supporter was Maxa.
So, after this conceded goal, when Deng Kai went back to the defense to speak to his teammates, Feng Te was nodding vigorously, admitting his fault with a very positive attitude, "Yes, it’s my fault, I let everyone down, I’ll definitely make up for it, don’t worry Deng, I won’t let you down again!"
With Feng Te being so self-critical, the others on the defense line didn’t have much to say.
Even sometimes Schmeichel, when calmer, would reflect on his own, contemplating whether his reaction to Feng Te had been too harsh after conceding the goal? He shouldn’t have scolded him.
The kid might lack a bit in talent, but his attitude was really good.
As the elder brother, he definitely needed to be more tolerant and to guide these obedient kids more.
Little did they know, Feng Te’s introspection was mainly due to Deng Kai, and the reactions of Schmeichel and the others were merely an added bonus.
